Saturday, June 30, 2012

Took Spike in for his check up, shots. While I was there, I picked up a couple of small koi for the pond. The plant I put in the pond last week is doing well. Spike is really out of it. He is usually hyper and flying through the house. Especially after an outing. The shots and meds really knock the energy way down. He is on his bed napping pretty heavily at present. Tomorrow, I will hit the range for a while if the temps back off a bit. It is still over a hundred and stifling out there. Think Spike and I are just going to take it easy and munch on some pizza for the rest of the day.

Friday, June 29, 2012

I picked up a roll pin at Ace hardware on the way home from work. It was still snug, but I got it in with no damage. They don't leave much to grab to get pin started. The gun is complete now. I will strip the upper and clean it. Hope to get it out to the range tomorrow if the weather is at all tolerable. They keep predicting rain, but it keeps missing us. Looking forward to having two days off.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

I arrived home from work to a package on my stoop. My upper has arrived. I managed to get it assembled. All except for the bolt release. The roll pin they sent is a tad to thick. I tried putting it in, but it was trying to sheer so I stopped and removed it. I will pick one up from work tomorrow. For now, I put everything together and just looped a twist tie through roll pin hole to hold the release in place. I can remove tie and push pin in tomorrow evening. I still want to strip the upper and clean it before firing. I just couldn't wait to put it togeather to see how she looked and felt. I installed flip sights for the time being. I want to pick out a scope for it, but need to figure out what exactly I want. Sights flip out of way, so they will be good back up anyhow.

Hopefully, it will make it to the range this weekend. With the temps hovering around 107, range day may have to wait a little while. We shall see.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Just checked the tracking on my upper that was back ordered. It is on it's way and will be here by Thursday evening. My magazine, ammo, bipod and sights are here waiting for it. Should be trying it out Saturday. Looking forward to putting together my first AR. Next one is probably going to be an AR10. Got the front pond trimmed out nice and some mulch and plants in. Trying out a water plant in the pond. See how that works out. Hopefully get a couple fish back in this weekend. Dog has his vet appointment for his shots and dental, so, I will pick up a couple fish while I am there.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Managed to stay focused on yard work. Had to work Saturday so it was only a one day weekend. I cleaned out the pond in the back yard and refilled it. Then I tackled the one in the front yard. It was extra nasty. Got it all cleaned out and refilled. Replaced the dead pump and cleaned the filters. See how it does during the week. Hopefully add a few fish next weekend. Have to see if the little kids stay away from it or not. Have a couple real little kids that wander where they shouldn't. Had to remove things that were tossed in. That was last year. I am hoping they are old enough to keep their hands off my things now. They don't mean any harm. Their parents just don't watch them the way they should. Way too small to be wandering the block unattended. Got the weeds under control and picked up a couple loads of mulch. Still have to lay the mulch down,but the heat got the better of me after all the cleaning. Have to save some of the fun for tomorrow. May not have enough fun at work and need a little more when I get home. Last full week before vacation starts. Have to work this week and the following. But the following has Independence Day right in the middle. Planning on hitting Mammoth cave on vacation. Haven't done that in a few years. I am going to try and get back on the Mustang during vacation as well. All the mechanical items are in order. Just need to weld in floor panel and frame support. Then I can start reinstalling interior and get her out on the road.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Got hold of the company I bought the AR from. The gun is on back order, hopefully to be shipped in a couple weeks. They send a UPS tracking number out immediately, so it appeared it was shipped. Looks like they are getting overwhelmed again due to the November election getting closer. No big hurry, just good to know it isn't lost in shipping. Have to work this weekend anyhow. Ammo should be here by the weekend. Picked up a magpul mag at the local gunstore for about the price they run at the shows.

Spent the day cleaning, paying bills and other non fun related activities. Then, I sat down and ordered my first upper along with some sights and other small accessories. Still not sure how to scope it out yet. Reviews show that they tend to ship very quickly, so, I am hoping to have it by midweek to the weekend. Do need to get a magazine for it as they did not have the magpul mags that everyone recommends. I was going to go back to the gun show to pick up a couple, but time got away and the show was over. All in all, I will have under $600 in it when done. That is with the lower receiver I bought at the last Indy show. The show here in town had the same lower receiver for the same low price as I paid in Indy. Next one will be an AR10 which takes a different lower all together. One full week, then a holiday week, then VACATIONNNNNN.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

The gun shows are starting to get better and better. They had a lot of new vendors and collectors there today. Hopefully, they will be regulars. There were a few collectors that had old military guns and accessories for sale. My buddy was there, but only brought a few AR's to sell. He usually has some old time WW2 pistols and various rifles from his collection out. I did buy a couple of books while there. I thing I am getting close to picking out my first AR upper. Way too many choices on options making it really hard to choose. Hope to hit the club tomorrow and make some brass to load.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Got off on time today and went straight to work on the gutter in the back yard. Dug the trench, buried the drain pipe rerouting water thirteen feet from house, and relaid the paver blocks over the trench. It makes the patio area look a whole lot neater. Hope to replace pavers with concrete next year. Still trying to figure out the exact size and shape I want it.There is a small pond off the patio. I am thinking of making it bigger and putting koi in the back yard next to the patio. Give Spike something new to bark at. Hope to keep going this weekend and get the back gate done. Have a gun show and car show this weekend as well, so it should be a busy weekend.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Hump day already here and just about gone. Gun show at the armory this weekend. Hope to pick up some ammo for the M1A and check out what they have. One of the guys I talk to always sets up a great display of WW2 memorabilia. He usually has some very interesting things for sale. Keep meaning to line up with him and join his gun club. They are set up for machine guns. He has a few machine guns he takes out there when they have their shoots.They have a machine gun shoot after Halloween to help eradicate all the pesky left over jack o lanterns.

Need to get the fence posts sunk this weekend too. It is still nice out and would like to finish project before it gets too hot out. Naturally, most of the utilities run right through the eight foot span I need to sink the posts.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

I hit the big military / gun show at the Freedom hall in Louisville this morning. It was HUUUUGE. Lots of really interesting items. There were a lot of antique guns all over. Real guns and periphenalia of western days. Guns from all eras of war. Uniforms, duffle bags and anything you could think of. Saw some really nice Garrands including both the C and D sniper rifles. I finally laid my hands on an unmolested Krag rifle. He had it marked $600 but I got him down to $500. Serial number shows it was manufactured January of 1903. Doesn't look bad for 109 years old.

My buddy at work warned me not to bother with the show because most vendors only sell to people with either an FFL or C& R license. So I remembered to take my C&R license allong and got to use it for the first time. I think that helped out on the price break. There were a few really nice M1 carbines for sale as well, but I didn't pick one up this time around. I was hoping on picking up some bulk .308 ammo for the M1A while I was there, but I didn't see any. It took a good five hours to see everyting. Definitely going to be watchng for the next show. They had some great food there as well. Parking was a breeze. I love driving through Kentucky. It is always a scenic drive.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Payday tomorrow. Bonus day tomorrow. Lots of things going on this weekend.And, I am NOT on the weekend list. Should be a great weekend. Took the Vette in to work today. She is running good. Came home and started work on the gate repair in the back yard. Called 811 and they marked the back yard. I can see why the gate post was only sunk about six inches in the ground by the contractor. The utilities marked the eight foot span between my house and the neighbors fence. It will be interesting missing all the lines while putting posts down. They covered just about the whole area . I am going to try to put two four foot gates in as the ends of the eight foot run are the only areas that appear safe for digging. Just have to put a drop bar in the center. No idea how the contractor that built all the houses in the subdivision got away with half the shoddy things he did. They should have been able to sink the posts to the correct depth while the pit was there for the utilities. Seems like an inspector should have caught the improper install. Had to fix the fence when I first moved in. my little fifteen pound dog managed to push through the high quality construction job the contractor did. Going to dig the trench to bury some pipe to carry the water from the gutter underground away from the house. Looks like most of the back yard is free to dig in. May make back pond a little bigger next year and put a few koi in it.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Lots of things going on this weekend. Friendship Indiana has their annual muzzleloader shoot going on. Louisville has their big military/ gun show going on. Downtown Evansville has their annual car show on the main street. They also have the Shriner fair going on downtown. They were advertising the Blue Angels being there, but latest news says they will be a no show. They will have other airplanes putting on a show over the river. It will be a great weekend, just have to figure out what to hit and what has to be missed. I am planning on hitting the Louisville show for sure. Just not sure about the rest. May hit Marengo cave on the way back from the show, or the Louisville zoo. Suppose to be a beautiful weekend.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

It was a fantastic day. Got to the show and met up with my brother and Og. Haven't seen them in a real long time.It was great seeing them again. Did some catching up and learned a lot. Og gave me some great pointers on AR's and helped me pick out my first lower for my first black gun. We looked around for a few hours. It was a small show, but still had a ton of things to look at. My brother found two Swedish mauser bayonets for sale. He couldn't decide which one to buy, so, he bought both of them. Then, being the generous person he is, gave his brother one of them. Thanks again bro. A buddy from work came with me to the show. He had a good time and acquired some parts for his AR.

Here is a close up of the mounted bayonet .

Just have the stripped lower right now, but it is a start. Og said he will send me a link for a decent package deal on the uppers. It was suppose to be a plane lower,but looks like I got one of the ones with the little reaper dude. Teach me to look at product before leaving. It will shoot the same, so no biggie. First upper will be a 5.56. Unfortunately, there are a tonnnnnn of options, so it is going to take a while to figure out exactly how I want to set it up and what options I want. Didn't make the blog meet. Left for the show early and stayed late. Had to get home and let the dog out. All in all it was a most enjoyable day. Many thanks to my brother and Og. It was a great day.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

It went flawlessly today. Before I knew it, the day was done. Tomorrow, the Indy 1500 gun show. YEAHHHHH. My brother and Og are going to be there, which makes it an even better show. I can finally return the engine hoist I borrowed from him a couple eons ago. He saved me a lot of money and it sure was appreciated. Now if I can only get off my tail and finish the floor pan, the mustang will be functional again. I am currently eyeballing an old triumph basket case that is available locally. May have another project in the background. I love the old Triumph choppers and would love to put one together sometime. The price is reasonable and I can probably recoup most of the cost selling the leftover parts through e-bay. One of the guys from work wanted to go to the gun show so I don't have to do the three and a half hour Indy drive solo.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Almost quiting time and I get added to the Saturday work list. Oh well, more money. I guess I will go to the Sunday gun show. One of the guys from work has never been to it so he is coming along. My brother and Og are suppose to show up, so it should be a good time. I hit the bank before they closed and got some cash just in case I should find something I just can't live without.